Towards the end of 2014, Oppo released an update for the Find 5 that bumped the Jelly Bean-running device up to KitKat. It wasn't a quality piece of work, but it was something. Now we know that for the Find 5, along with the N1 and the R819, things won't get any better. No additional ColorOS updates are on the way. None of these devices will see Android Lollipop.

This news comes after a reader pointed us toward the Oppo forums, where a moderator stated that these three devices won't receive any more ColorOS updates.

Since it was unveiled in February 2013, Oppo’s Find 5 has been running versions of their ColorOS based on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The release of KitKat in October of 2013 has had Find 5 owners waiting anxiously for a 4.4-based version of ColorOS on their devices. The presence of ColorOS 2.0, based on KitKat, running on newer Oppo devices like the N3 and R5 has only increased their anticipation. Still, when users saw Oppo announce a ColorOS 2.0 build based on Android 4.4 for the Find 5, they were quickly disappointed by a bug-filled experience.

It's been all quiet on the Android Open Kang Project front for a while, but the latest blog post from the popular ROM family indicates that there are big things coming. The AOKP team has been working on Android 4.3 ROMs (labeled JB-MR2 in the AOKP nomenclature) ever since the release of the latest operating system, and the first nightly builds of 4.3 have now been posted.

Most manufacturers tend to be coy when it comes to release dates, especially when it's customers asking rather than press or investors. But Chinese manufacturer Oppo sometimes shoots from the hip, as they did with a recent Google+ post. When asked about release dates from an inquisitive poster, someone using the official account replied with a general target release for two upcoming devices, the N1 and Find N7.

The N1 was recently leaked in all its minimalist glory, and though specs are thin on the ground, it looks like a contender for a flagship device with a relatively large screen.

Oppo Find 5 is one of the sexiest Android phones in recent history - just take a look at some of the photos in our review published earlier this year. At $499.99 ($569.99 for the 32GB variant), it's also cheaper than most unlocked high-end modern devices, yet it manages to pack a quad-core 1.5GHz Krait, Adreno 320, 2GB of RAM, a 1080P 5" display, a 13MP camera, NFC, and a 2500mAh battery.

In a world where Samsung and Apple dominate the smartphone sphere, and multi-billion dollar companies like Sony, LG, and Motorola struggle to maintain single-digit market share, it's rather easy to convince yourself that real innovation and excellence costs lots of money. And, as an extension of that thought process, that there's little reason to look outside the current crop of popular phone makers.

But you'd be wrong.

Known mostly in the United States for its Blu-ray players (yes, really), Oppo is a Chinese electronics maker that is easily ignored.